Must Read: Omnivore’s Dilemma

I never liked writing book reports as a kid, and I don’t enjoy them much more now. But the Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan has changed the way I think about eating, and likely changed my eating habits for life. It’s a book that anyone who thinks of themselves as a “foodie”, good cook, green aware or sustainably responsible person should read. It’s a book that will make you fundamentally reconsider where you food comes from, how it was raised, who grew it and what all those ingredients you can’t pronounce are.

It has made me reconsider my decision to choose the cheapest alternative when shopping for meat, produce, cheese and other ingredients. I look at processed and prepared foods differently now, not with suspicion exactly, but definitely with the realization that who made them, where they got the ingredients and which chemicals and additives they used really matters. More than most of us realize, even if we’ve seen the Oprah shows about the topic.

I’m not saying that I’ll never eat meat from a CAFO again – because really, I had ribs for lunch today and didn’t ask where the cow grew up. And I’m not saying that I’ll never buy prepared foods again, because I used jarred marinara as part of the pasta sauce I made tonight. But it does mean that when I have control over what I’m eating and where it comes from, I’ll make different decisions that I might have a year ago.

I’ll choose to eat a small portion for lunch when it’s my only option that day and supplement it with the plum in my messenger bag. I’ll buy organic marinara made only with ingredients that I can pronounce and recognize that came from California instead of South America or Georgia. I’ll choose to eat fruits and vegetables that are local and in season whenever possible, and when not I’ll choose something I preserved myself or the next closest organic alternative.

I’ll choose the evironmentally friendly local peach even if it costs a little more. I’ll cook starting with whole ingredients whenever I can. And when I can’t I’ll choose minimally processed foods from local or organic sources to get me through.

I won’t take anything that “big agriculture” or the FDA says at face value. I’ll look to local farmers to provide my meat, even if it means that my steak was previously frozen most of the year. I’ll spread the word about thinking beyond the price when it comes to food through my blog, my conversations (where appropriate) and the food that I serve to my friends and family.

And no, I didn’t get all of this from Pollan’s book, wonderfuly written though it is. His thought provoking narrative simply helped to crystalize all the knowledge and bits and pieces that I’d been collecting from different places for the past year. And helped me remember all the things I unconsciously knew as a child eating chicken, lamb, fruits, vegetables and squash that we raised ourselves.

There’s a reason that the food I used to cook didn’t taste as good as the food my mom and grandmother cooked when I was young. And it’s because the basic ingredients weren’t as good. They’d had all the flavor and individuality and vitality bred out of them in order to make them cheaper, longer lasting and uniform.

And I guess I had more to say on his book than I thought. What it comes down to is that I cannot recommend this book enough. If you read nothing else written about eating local, please read this book.

*****

Note: for all of you asking about my vacuum packer, here’s what I know. We’ve had it for about 4 years. The brand is Food Saver. We bought it at Costco and I think we paid right around $99 for it. It does a pretty good job if you’re willing to futz with it. We’ve vacuum packed salmon and elk and kept it for almost a year with very minimal freezer burn after 12 months. And I highly recommend getting one if you want to freeze produce or meat – it’s worth the investment cost and the expense of the bags.

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